Trio of nations keen to develop Chabahar port

Dubai: A pact that would connect India to war-torn Afghanistan through a port in southern Iran is set to be signed by the three countries very soon.

The draft pact on Chabahar Port, which would allow India and Afghanistan to conduct trade and access Central Asia's vast energy resources, has been reviewed and approved by Afghanistan and is now awaiting India's approval. “India is keen with the construction of the Chabahar port, which will provide a new access point for India to Central Asia,” Anil Wadhwa, Secretary in India’s Foreign Ministry said recently during a lecture at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. “The speedy completion of the Chabahar port could be just the game-changer India needs to transform its relations with the region.”
India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said in an interview recently that India is considering increasing use Chabahar port in Iran to use it as direct access to western Afghanistan for “evacuation of mineral wealth”. [06/04/14]